MONROE – A plaintiffs’ group, which includes a realty company, synagogue, individuals and others has filed an Article 78 proceeding in State Supreme Court in Goshen seeking to prohibit the Blooming Grove Town and Village Boards and Monroe Town Board from taking jurisdictions over two petitions proposing the annexation of 336 acres from the towns of Monroe and Blooming Grove and the annexation of the same land.
The lawsuit against John Allegro, who proposed annexing the land into the Town of Blooming Grove, the municipal boards involved, the Kiryas Joel Village Board and a number of individuals, claims the municipal boards “lack jurisdiction” over the Blooming Grove Annexation Petition and the South Blooming Grove Annexation petition.
They maintain that some 228 acres of land overlaps part of the territory proposed to be annexed to Kiryas Joel in an annexation petition filed more than a year ago and which is pending. “Under the prior jurisdiction over the Blooming Grove-South Blooming Grove Annexation Petition while the KJ Annexation Petition is pending,” the plaintiffs maintain.
They also maintain that the Blooming Grove-South Blooming Grove petitions were not filed for a legitimate purpose under the law. “Rather, the purpose for the BG-SBG annexation petitions is to thwart and block the previously filed KJ annexation petition which is not a legitimate purpose for annexation under the Municipal Annexation Law.” Therefore, they said the BG-SBG petitions “are null and void.”
The plaintiffs are seeking a ruling from the court prohibiting the municipal boards from exercising jurisdiction over the annexation before a final decision is rendered on the KJ annexation petition. They also seek a court ruling stating the boards lack jurisdiction over the BG-SBG petitions because “they do not propose a legitimate annexation and are facially null and void.”
Kiryas Joel leadership, meanwhile, issued a statement about the latest lawsuit.
“The village understands that this suit is being brought forth by property owners seeking to be part of the village in response to a separate, intentionally disruptive annexation request initiated by John Allegro, and a small number of residents, who have taken a cynical action, intended to disrupt an orderly process by creating chaos,” they said. “Allegro’s actions and those of his followers only serve to muddy the waters of those who are seeking to pursue opportunity and happiness as village residents.”
